A Necessary Education
by captainhookcaptainfreedom
Summary: [Dramione] After the war, Hermione left the Wizarding World behind. She had a child with a muggle man but this daughter, Elizabeth, is hardly a muggle. Draco Malfoy has been completely lost ever since Hermione Granger vanished from his life, but has accepted an offer to teach at Hogwarts. Can the once lovers be reunited by one young witch?
1. Announcements

**This is the first Harry Potter multi-chapter fic I'm posting. NOT the first I've written. It's Dramione. I pretty much have total disregard for most of what JK Rowling wrote. The War did happen. The epilogue obviously did not. EWE? And Hermione and Ron really never had a romantic relationship. In my story there's the possibility of them having one, but they never actually do. This is set about 13ish yrs after the 7th book (not including the epilogue...) but there will be flashbacks. The earliest flashback I know of now is during their 5th or 6th year. This is probably going to seem very confusing at first, but all will be revealed in time. Thank you so much for giving my story a chance!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this world, that goes to JK Rowling. I only own the original characters.**

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Professor McGonagall stood in front of the students of Hogwarts as headmistress. She had held this position for some time now. "Before we begin the sorting of our new first years, I must make an announcement. Our beloved Professor Drawling, who taught our Defense Against the Dark Arts class, has moved to the states." Whispers ran throughout the students. McGonagall raised her hand to quite them. "He was also head of the Slytherin House for the past few years. As sad as we are to lose such a wonderful professor, we are pleased to announce that his replacement is a Hogwarts graduate and a former Slytherin no less. Let me introduce Professor Draco Malfoy.

_**4 Weeks Earlier…**_

"Mom! Mom!" Elizabeth ran through the house shouting. "Mom! Whoa," She slid as she ran around a corner and slipped on the rug. She collided with a large flower pot sitting under a window. "Ow."

"Lizzie, how many times do I have to tell you not to run in the house?"

"Sorry, I just, well look," She held up an opened envelope and letter for her mother to see. "It's from Hogwarts."

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**I know this is short. It's more of a prologue than a real chapter. Please review! Follow? Favorite?**


	2. The Train

**Second chapter! Yay! This is a normal length. I really hope you like it and that it isn't confusing you too too much. You meet a lot more characters in this chapter and find out a lot more about what's going on in Hermione's life. **

**Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter is not mine. JK Rowling owns all the characters from the books. I, however, do own my original characters. For this chapter that includes: Lizzie, Alexandria, and Jillian. My versions of James and Albus are also _my_ versions. If this fic is anything like someone else's that is an accident. I also do not own Robert Louis Stevenson or any of his works. I also don't own ACDC.**

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Hermione had abandoned the wizarding world soon after the war ended. She never imagined that after all those years she'd be returning, but here she was at platform 9 ¾ sending her sweet girl off to Hogwarts. Hermione didn't know what she'd do without Lizzie. Her friends didn't understand why she would send her off to boarding school. The thing was that they were muggles and couldn't know that Lizzie had been dreaming of this ever since she had first discovered her magic.

Lizzie had boarded the train already. Hermione hoped she'd find some nice peers to sit with just as Hermione had found Ron and Harry, gods, she hadn't thought of them in forever. Lizzie wasn't nearly as bookish as her mom had been at Hogwarts, but she was awkward and growing up in the muggle world would be a setback now. The train whistle blew as a warning. Hermione looked at the other parents waving. She didn't recognize any of them. "Good luck Lizzie!" she whispered.

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Lizzie carried her suitcase and the cage containing her newly purchased owl as she walked down the hall of the train. She peered through the windows of each compartment. She was searching for an empty one. Lizzie had never really liked people and they had never seemed to like her either. She was almost at the back of the train. She thought there would be lots of spots because she had gotten on the train early, but apparently not early enough. Finally she found one small empty compartment. Lizzie let out a sigh of relief and rushed into it. She placed her things on the floor by her feet, taking up very little space in the empty room. She putted out her mp3 player and stuck the earbuds in her ears. She had told her mom that she was ready, but Lizzie was an expert liar.

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The whistle blew once more as a large mass of people walked through the wall and onto the platform. Hermione took a step away as she recognized the two adults rushing their children to the train. She knew they probably wouldn't recognize her anymore, but she couldn't risk it. Harry and Ginny Potter said their goodbyes to three kids as the train began to move.

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Lizzie was glad to feel the train move. She was still alone, which she was glad about as all the other students seemed loud and insane. Perhaps the noise would die done now that they were on their way.

Her happiness was short lived though as her compartment door was opened. She looked over to find a girl peering in.

"Can I crash here with you?" she asked. "My two brothers are driving me up the wall. I'd really appreciate it".

"Umm, sure?" Lizzie never knew how to talk to people without getting upset. She had to be careful.

The girl sighed in relief and then barged in carrying a bag much too large for her small body. "Oof." She sat down heavily. Lizzie studied her. She had big green eyes and long red hair. She was very short. She blew a piece of hair out of her eyes before turning to Lizzie and smiling hugely. This girl was hyper.

"My name's Jillian. Well, actually I was supposed to be Lillian, but then someone wrote it wrong on my birth certificate, so I'm a Jillian. You can call me Jilly, everyone does."

Lizzie was silent. She though Jilly was way too forward and much too happy. "I'm Elizabeth, but most people just call me Lizzie."

"Are you a first year? I am."

"Yep," she popped the 'p'.

"I'm so excited! What house are you hoping for?"

"My mom thinks I'll get Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but I'd be fine with any of the four."

"I'm hoping I'll get Gryffindor, but my brothers say I'll be in Hufflepuff." Jilly pouted.

There was a knock at the door. Jilly reached over and slid it open.

"We were wondering where you went off to," one of the boys said. Two stood there. They were almost identical, but one had a shock of black hair while the other's was bright red. These had to be Jilly's brothers.

"Hey, Jilly, who's this?" the other one asked, pointing at Lizzie.

Jilly rolled her eyes. "Way to be polite." She turned back to Lizzie, "These are my two older brothers, James and Albus. They're twins." She turned back to James and Albus, "This is Elizabeth."

"Hey Elizabeth," James smiled at her. He was the one with the black hair. "Are you a second year? I don't really remember you, but we didn't hang out much with first years."

Lizzie shook her head. She smiled a little bit, the first real one of the trip. She thought she could like James. "I'm a first year like Jillian."

Albus tilted his head and gave her a look like she was crazy. "You're a first year? You don't look it." He shook his head slowly.

"And," James added with a cheeky grin, "you may be a first year, but there's no way you're like Jilly." He leaned forward and cupped his hand around his mouth as if he was telling a secret, "She's positively insane."

Lizzie let out a small giggle. She wasn't one to ordinarily giggle. Albus snorted at his brother's teasing.

"Why don't you both just leave us alone?" Jilly whined.

"You're right," Albus said, "We should be getting back to Simon."

"Simon, who's Simon?"

As Jilly demanded to know her brothers' personal lives and Albus tried to fight her off, Lizzie reached into her bag to grab one of her favorite books. Sure it was a muggle novel, but who could beat Robert Louis Stevenson?"

She read a few pages of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' before feeling someone's eyes on her. She looked up to find Albus and Jilly still arguing, but James was standing there against the door frame, studying her. He smiled when their gazes met. Lizzie blushed and quickly looked down.

Albus and Jillian eventually reached an end and Albus turned to leave. "Bye Jilly! Bye Elizabeth!" he shouted.

James turned to follow him but stopped. "Don't forget your bag on the train Jilly," he paused and turned his head to look at Lizzie, "It was a pleasure meeting you- Elizabeth." Her name sounded like sin and a song all at once as it fell from his tongue. And his gaze was surely enough to melt her.

"Ugh, brothers are so annoying. Do you have any?"

And they were back to question time. Lizzie sighed. "Nope. I'm an only child."

"On." Jilly was silent, it seemed as if she had run out of things to say.

Lizzie turned back to her book and ignored the other girl. She was deep into the world of horror and science, '-I could hear his teeth grate with a convulsive-'.

Jilly said something.

"What?" Lizzie said as she looked up, truly having missed whatever Jillian had just said.

Jilly let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you know any of the other kids?"

"No. I don't know anyone."

"Anyone?" Her eyes went wide.

Lizzie was getting annoyed by the redhead. "No. I don't know anyone. I wasn't raised around here."

"Are you a muggleborn?"

"Technically I'm a halfblood, but my mom was a muggleborn and I was raised as a muggle."

"Oh it must have been horrid!"

"It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?"

Lizzie was about to defend her previous lifestyle when the door was opened again.

"If it isn't Jillian Potter?"

"Alexandria Cranewood." The redhead hissed at the new girl.

Alexandria was tall with very short black hair. Looking at her head from the back she could easily be mistaken as a boy, but the front was much too feminine. Her nose was petite to match her small lips, painted bright red, and her tiny ears. Her eyes were huge though, and the brightest blue. She was already in her school robes but you could see her feet in green stiletto heels. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorframe. "You a friend of Pothead over there?" she asked Lizzie, nodding her head at Jillian.

"We only just met."

"Huh." She pushed off the wall. "You a first year?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Same here." She studied Lizzie. "Nice shirt," she said and pointed at Lizzie's ACDC t-shirt, "they're a pretty sweet band."

"You know muggle music?"

It was Alexandria's turn to roll her eyes. "Duh. Wizard mad music is crap." There was a pause before she continued. "I'm Alex by the way. You wanna come with me and lose prejudice Potter?"

"I am not prejudice!"

"Oh shut up Pothead Jr. You and your brother hate muggles more than you have any right to."

Jilly huffed. Lizzie looked between the two girls. Alex was definitely more the type she would hang out with. Lizzie stood up and picked up her stuff. "Let's go,"

"Nice," Alex said, "You got guts. I think we could definitely be friends." Alex looked over at Jilly. "Why aren't you with Hannah anyway? I thought the two of you were 'BFFs'?"

"I was just trying to be nice." She glared at Lizzie.

Lizzie wasn't fond of Jilly, but didn't want to be mean. "It's not that I don't like you Jilly," she lied, "it's just that I need to meet people."

Jilly pouted, but nodded in agreement.

"Let's move out," Alex said.

Alex and Lizzie left Jilly and started walking down the crowded hall. Alex started up conversation. "I heard her talking trash about muggles and I couldn't handle it."

"You're a muggleborn?"

"Nope. I am as pureblood as they come. But it's not all it's cracked up to be. And I simply cannot stand Jillian Potter. She thinks she's so special. Her brother Albus too. They're pureblood 'because both parents were magical, but their dad was halfblood. Only their mom's side is completely pureblood, so they don't truly count, and they don't understand it at all."

"It sounds like you know them really well."

"I was born in the states, but my dad got moved to London for work. He works with the ministry and so does their dad. Everyone thought that Jilly and I would be great friends. That didn't go the way they wanted. So you're a halfblood raised as a muggle?"

"Yeah. My dad had no clue about magic, but it doesn't really matter. He died before I was born."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm not sure that I'd want to have known him."

"I understand. I'm often mad at my parents and ancestry because of the whole 'pureblood' thing."

"Why? Shouldn't being pureblood be a good thing?"

"That's what they all say, but to create a long line of purebloods a great deal of inbreeding has to occur. And that results in medical complications. Which in my case results in starting first year at age thirteen instead of age eleven because of my seven heart surgeries." Alex put on a sarcastic smile. "Being a pureblood is just fantastic."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, not your fault. It's actually good in a way. My parents don't push my brother and me to try for pureblood relationships. They're all for us being friends and dating muggleborns, halfbloods, and even muggles."

"I guess that's good."

Alex stopped walking. "And we have reached the compartment of Alexandria Cranewood. Prepare yourself, my brother's in there." She looked in the window and groaned. "And apparently so are all his friends."

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**Please Review! I can only get better if you tell me what you like and don't like in the reviews. Please favorite and/or follow! Thank you so much for reading!**


	3. Making the Acquaintance Of

**I'm sorry this took so long, but don't worry, I will not abandon this fic any time soon. I love it WAY too much! The OCs make me crazy happy because they are crazy fun to write for. You do get a really long chapter this time though. It's over 3,000 words. Which is weird because usually my chapters are really short, but I love this fic so much that I've found that it's impossible for me to condense my chapters. **

**Disclaimer: Seriously, why would anyone think I own this? I don't own the Harry Potter universe. It's JK Rowling's. I am going to take credit for my Original Characters though. In this chapter those include: Elizabeth Vewright, Alexandria Cranewood, Romeo Cranewood, Ambrose Jordan, Irene Weasley, Derne, Vesna Jordan, Ami Dalca, and Jillian Potter. James and Albus Potter are versions I've created, but I'm not all that possessive about the two of them. (And I think that's it!) Hope you Enjoy!**

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Alex turned back to Lizzie. "Prepare to enter Hell," She pushed open the compartment door and stood there watching the boys argue. "Yo! Romeo!"

A boy looked up from the center of the fighting. He was tall and lean with dirty blond hair. Well, sort of. Half of his head was shaved and the other half was slicked back against his skull. His eyes were the same color as Alex's. He was wearing what looked like a muggle prep school uniform. Dark grey dress pants and a grey sweater vest over a white button down. A Ravenclaw tie hung loosely from his neck, but he didn't have a wizarding robe over his clothes. "Hey, Lex! You know all these guys right?"

"Yeah, but I wish I didn't because then they wouldn't be in **our**– that means it's part mine – compartment,"

"Come on Lex,"

"No, Rom get them out."

The arguing between the boys had stopped but no one made any move to leave.

Alex practically growled. She entered the room, pulling Lizzie with her. "All you idiots. Get. Out." She shouted.

Romeo grinned at his sister and held back a laugh as his friends scurried to grab anything they brought with them to the Cranewoods' compartment. "At ease men," he called out before anyone left.

"What the Hell?" Alex stared at him.

"You have a friend with you, why can't I have mine?"

"I have _one _friend. Choose _one._"

He leaned in close to his sister. "Can I choose Albus?" he whispered with a smirk.

Alex's eyes flashed angrily at her brother and she threw a death glare over at the Potter Twins. "You wouldn't dare,"

Romeo drew back. "I would, but lucky for you Albus gets boring after a time. Amby can stay if he wants. Everyone else out. We'll continue this at Hogwarts."

The Potter Twins and three other boys hurriedly left. James glanced once more at Lizzie before heading out.

"So, who is your friend Lex?" Romeo asked.

"This is," she stopped, "oh sweet Merlin, I don't know your name," She turned to Lizzie with apology written all over her face.

"It's fine, really. My name's Elizabeth, Elizabeth Vewright. Everyone just calls me Lizzie."

"Hello Lizzie. I am Romeo Cranewood." He stuck his hand out to Lizzie and they shook. "And this," he gestured to his friend, "is Ambrose Jordan. Otherwise known as Amby."

"Hey!" Amby called from where he was now sitting on the ground.

"Hey Amby," Alex said. "Did your mom have the baby yet?"

"Yeah! You didn't know? Mum and Pops are absolutely crazy! I have a sister now. Her name's Vesna. She's the sweetest little thing. Perfectly adorable too! Vesna Alafia Jordan. I'm just as crazy 'bout her as them though. I can't deny it."

"Everything's still good with you, especially between you and your parents?" Alex said.

"Lex? You too? Everything's fine. It's not as if they're suddenly going to forget completely about me as soon they have a baby. I've been they're kid for fifteen years, I'm pretty sure they're going to continue to treat me as such."

"Amby's adopted," Rom explained to Lizzie. "His parents weren't able to have a child of their own and they desperately wanted a kid, so they adopted. So many children were left parentless after the war. I don't know why more people don't adopt. So that was a long time ago when they adopted Amby. During the time they've had him they've continue to try for a baby of their own and his mom has had a few miscarriages. This was the first time she ever reached the third trimester. And she had the baby and they're all doing fine so far."

Amby looked like he was of Indian descent. His skin was a dark tan. He had curly brown hair that fell into his chocolate brown eyes. He had a nice smile and seemed friendly with a very easy-going personality.

"I can't believe you didn't tell Lex." Amby said to Rom.

"I didn't know she cared!"

"His mom is the nicest woman ever! I love her and it's not like Amby is only _your_ friend." Alex defended.

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry. It's completely and utterly my fault that I am a complete social idiot," Rom responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "How about we don't bicker and we just talk about ourselves a little bit to help your new friend, Lizzie."

Lizzie fidgeted awkwardly at the mention of her.

Alex rolled her eyes. "I can't believe _you're _my brother," she muttered under her breath. "Okay, so what is this? We sit in a happy little circle and go around telling our name, our favorite color, and something that makes us 'special'?" she said spitefully.

"Totally," Amby spoke up, "I vote for that. But I think we should have to say what house we're in too."

Alex looked at him as if he was a complete moron, which at this moment she did indeed think he was. "Lizzie and I are first years. We can definitely tell you what house we're in. And for the record, I was being **sarcastic **when I mentioned that idea."

"Well, I don't care, I'm doing it. My name is Ambrose Jordan. My favorite color is," he stopped for a moment, a bewildered expression crossing his face, "bugger, I don't have a favorite color."

Alexandria cracked up laughing and Lizzie failed to hold back her own chuckles. "Please, let's not do this," Alex begged.

"Hey, guys," Rom said, sounding distracted. He had ignored them and was flipping through a copy of _The Quibbler_. "First of all, apparently the best color nail polish for me is sea foam purple. Who knew that was even a color? But, more importantly, guess who left this here?" No one spoke up, so Romeo continued, "Albus Potter."

"You're joking!" Ambrose cried out.

Alex performed her trademark eye roll. "It's probably his sister's and it got mixed up with his things."

Lizzie snorted, "Yeah, because Jilly definitely seems like the type who can read."

They all turned to stare at Lizzie, shocked at her insult abilities.

"What? She honestly doesn't."

Romeo howled with laughter. "That was beautiful. No wonder you're friends with Alex." Amby was failingly trying to hold back a smile and Alex had already lost control. "I hate to steal your thunder," Rom continued, "but I know it's not Jilly's anyway." He paused to add to the suspense, "Just look at the address label."

He held up the magazine and pointed to where the subscriber's name was printed. It read 'Albus Potter'.

Alex's eyes widened and Romeo looked extremely pleased.

"You weren't kidding!" Amby shouted. Lizzie couldn't keep herself from laughing at the situation. "Hey," Amby started, "It shouldn't be that shocking or hilarious for a teenage boy to read _The Quibbler_. I read it! Sometimes."

"Yeah, we know Amby," Rom said, "but that's cause your mom has them lying around the house at all times because your grandfather wrote it. And your family is consumed by all things media whether it's true or not. Your dad hosts a radio show for Merlin's sake. And it isn't like you have the magazine being delivered to _you, _it goes to your mom_._ He actually subscribes to this thing! Albus always talks 'bout how manly he is, ha! Sure. He's about as manly as his little Pothead sister."

"So," Lizzie started, "I'm getting the sense that the Cranewoods and the Potters aren't all that close."

Romeo shook his head as he reclined on the maroon seat. "No sir. At least not the children. Our dads get along alright. Our mothers, well, they're polite to each other. Neither would ever be rude to the other's face or publicly say anything bad, but I do get the feeling they're not too fond of each other. They used to be close back when we first moved here, but then Mrs. Potter realized that Mrs. Cranewood had very different ideas about how to raise a family than hers. And then the disapproval started. The advice. And dear, dear Mummy couldn't handle it. So she snapped at Mrs. Potter one day, and well, their relationship has never been the same."

"You are so full of it," Alex said. "Our mothers get along fine. They're not best friends by any means, but they're fine. There isn't any sort of grudge between the two of them. I honestly have no idea what Rom is talking about."

"You weren't there when it happened! You were going into surgery. Mum was hysterical that day. It was the really dangerous one and we weren't sure the doctor was a good one because we had only moved here a couple months ago and Mum was out of her head that day. And for whatever reason Mrs. Potter thought she could comfort Mum and told her everything was going to be alright and I don't know what exactly she said, but she was saying something and Mum freaked! I was scared half out of my wits. You should've seen her. She was in full mama bear mode protecting her cub. Her cub who happened to be you, Alexandria."

"Oh geez, you can say my full first name," she responded dryly. "Our parents are fine." She said to Lizzie. "We're the ones with enemies. Albus and James are twins, as you know, and happen to be in the same year as Romeo. So Romeo's got it tougher with dealing with **two** Potters. They're both in Gryffindor too. They're cocky and both on the quidditch team. Romeo's not. Most people just think of Rom as a nerd."

"I am a Ravenclaw. That's really the only nerd thing they've got on me. And I'm friends with Amby, who isn't the most popular guy, but I don't get why _they_ don't like you. Your parents are best friends with their aunt and uncle. Their cousins are our friends! For the record, they like us better than the Potters."

"Maybe you're also known as the nerd because you refused when Ami Dalca asked you to the yule ball." Amby added.

"Ami is one of the most stupid girls I've ever met. She might be popular, but brains aren't what she got. It would've been torture to even just go to the ball as friends. She probably wouldn't have settled for just friends though. It was pretty obvious she was looking for a relationship and I was not the guy. I haven't been to a Hogwarts yule ball once in my life and I have no intention of ever attending one."

"And this, my darling brother, is why everyone sees you as nothing more than a brain."

"Ha! They know that I could beat them all in a quidditch match. They're all praying to their dear sweet mothers that I never discover an affinity for the game. I'm more talented than any of them will ever be."

"Well you sure do keep the Ravenclaw stereotypes going," Amby muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That your head is full of hot air and that you act like your some god that has shown favor to us by gracing us with his presence in human form."

"I do not!" Rom defended. "It's not an act if it's the truth,"

Lizzie and Alex couldn't hold back their laughter. Amby pushed Romeo over so that he could sit beside him, but continued to then shove him to the floor.

"Romeo Cranewood you are a complete idiot," Ambrose said.

"Speaking of the Ravenclaw values," Rom started, "what house do you think you'll be in?" His question was aimed at Lizzie as he already knew what house his sister predicted she'd land in.

It was the second time that day that Lizzie heard the question asked of her, but she still didn't know what her answer was to it. "I really don't know. My mom thinks I'll be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but I'm not sure I agree with her. I think I could land in any one of them. There's no distinct characteristic that I value."

"Well, Alex thinks she'll land in Slytherin and to be honest so does everyone who's ever met her. Amby and I are Ravenclaws. We're supposed to value wisdom, but everyone just thinks of Ravenclaws as smart, but stuck up pricks. Gryffindors value bravery, but they tend to be too bold. They cause a lot of disagreements actually and they believe themselves better than the other houses because of the celebrities that came out of their house. And the fact that they've won the house cup for the past few years." He said the last part in an angry mutter. "Then there's Hufflepuff. They value kindness and all that crap. They're mostly a lot of pushovers."

"No," Amby interjected, "They're just seen as pushovers. They're actually pretty brave and really smart. Well, some of the time. There are always those who fit the stereotypes."

"Slytherins value cleverness. Everyone's still thinking of them as pureblood death eaters though. I don't get it. They've just got determination. The war was years ago and there are quite a few muggleborns in Slytherin. People just like causing problems. Especially Gryffindors."

"Okay, I've got to ask," Lizzie spoke up, "Does your hate for Gryffindor come from your hate for the Potters, or does the hate for the Potters come from your hate for Gryffindor?"

Rom stared at her. "Don't you think you're clever? Neither. My hatred does not connect in any way. Those relationships are completely separate."

"Just keep saying whatever makes you happy," Alex commented.

Romeo glared at her. "I'll just keep saying the truth. Of course, you can't understand that. You're a lying Slytherin."

"What if she doesn't land in Slytherin?" Amby voiced.

Lizzie had been thinking the same thing. She always thought about the different outcomes and no matter what the situation was she'd always predict a million different possibilities. Her mother always said that it was that kind of thinking slowly driving Lizzie insane. But when you're not out hanging around with friends, you had a lot of time to think.

Romeo looked at Ambrose as if he had grown a second head. "Are you joking? There's no way Lex isn't getting into Slytherin. If she doesn't, then the sorting hat is obviously wrong so we should just tear it up and create a new one. Alex was born to be a Slytherin!"

"I hate to agree with him, but I agree with him," Lex said.

There was a lull in the conversation. Lizzie, for the first time in her life, didn't feel uncomfortable sitting silently with other people. Maybe this truly was where she belonged.

"We should almost be at Hogwarts," Romeo broke the silence. "Lizzie has to change."

"Oh, right," Lizzie said. She had completely forgotten. She looked down at herself. She was still wearing her black skinny jeans, the AC/DC t-shirt, and a pair of dark green canvas sneakers.

"Don't forget to put on the 'wizarding robe'," Amby said. "It is ugly and uncomfortable as can be, but you will not get away with not wearing it until you are in 3rd year. Maybe 2nd if the professors like you."

"I never wore it in first year," Rom said.

"Yes and as your younger sister it is my duty to learn from your mistakes," Alex said.

"So, where do I change?" Lizzie asked as she picked up her small brown suitcase.

"I'll take you there." Alex offered. They both left the compartment and Alex started leading Lizzie down the hall. "I'm sorry if they annoyed you at all. Romeo and Ambrose can be a bit self-absorbed at times. I thought you might've felt a little awkward and left out."

"No, no. It's fine. They're wonderful. I'm just not used to everything yet. It's all so new to me and I don't know anyone. The three of you have been really nice," she replied.

"You seem to fit in pretty well with us. You're cool Lizzie."

Elizabeth smiled a little bit to be polite, but she was actually rather uncomfortable with the teenage compliment. That's when they heard the shouting. "Please! My cat! Achro, come back here!"

A black cat streamed past the two girls, easily twisting through the space between their legs to slip past. It was quickly followed by a stumbling redhead who rushed forward to grab the feline before it escaped again. She missed, but Alex was able to stop the pet from getting any further. She picked the cat up and stood by the red haired girl.

"Here you go Irene." She placed the sneaky cat in the arms of his owner. He rubbed his head against her arm.

"Oh, so now you like me?" Irene said to the cat. "Thanks Alex!" Irene noticed Lizzie. "Hey! It's nice to meet someone new. I'd offer to shake hands but," she lifted up her cat, "my hands are a bit full. I'm Irene."

"Irene who we all just call Yo-yo." Alex chimed in.

"Yo-yo?" Lizzie said.

"Oh, stop it!" Yo-yo said to Alex, hitting her arm playfully. "When I was younger my brother threw a yo-yo to me because I wanted to try to use one, but then it hit me in the head, leaving a lovely scar. It was bleeding like crazy and I kept on rushing from going to my mom for help and to yelling at Freddie, so they started saying I was like a yo-yo going back and forth. Since then, everyone's called me Yo-yo."

Elizabeth smiled at the story. "I'm Lizzie," she introduced herself, pushing a strand of wavy hair behind her ear.

Yo-yo had similarly wavy hair, but hers was ginger red. Her eyes were a sweet light brown color and she had a kind sparkle to her. Her face still slightly had the pudginess of childhood. She was shorter than both Alex and Lizzie and with darker skin than them both. She smiled at Lizzie. "See, you have a normal nickname," she joked. "Sometimes I think Freddie was _trying_ to hit me with the yo-yo," she laughed making her shoulder length hair fall into her face as the air was filled with her chiming laughter.

Another kid came running up behind Yo-yo. He was completely out of breath. He stopped next to the girl and doubled over, panting. "Did you- Did you get – get Achromatic?"

"Achromatic?" Alex said skeptically. "That sounds like some sort of spell."

Lizzie laughed at her new friend's ignorance. "It's a word. It means without color."

"It's the name of my new pet cat," Yo-yo added. "But we usually just call him Achro. It's shorter and easier."

"Did you get him?" The boy said urgently with wide eyes. He gripped Yo-yo's shoulders and forced her to look at him.

"I don't know, did I?" She said sweetly and looked down at the animal in her arms.

The boy let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin for that." He whispered. He scratched the cat behind the ears and smiled as Achro purred. The newcomer was about the same height as Yo-yo, but wasn't pudgy like she was. He was very scrawny, just barely more than skin and bones. He was very pale with thin light brown hair that had grown far too long. It hung straight down into his right eye. His eyes were a stunning yet mysterious black in color.

"Derne," Irene said quietly to the boy, "aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

The boy looked up. "I'm Derne," he said softly to Alex and Lizzie. He almost looked frighten and he avoided looking directly at either one of them.

"Derne," Yo-yo prompted again, "These are Lizzie and Alex," she said, pointing at each one of them. "They're also first years." She smiled brightly at him, but he ignored her and focused his attention on Achro. Yo-yo turned back to her female companions. "Derne and I met on the train earlier today. He's a bit, shy?" Yo-yo phrased the last part more as a question than as a statement. It seemed she didn't know too much about Derne either.

Things came to an awkward standstill, so Alex intervened. "Lizzie was just going to get changed. We should probably go before we arrive at Hogwarts," she forced a laugh.

"Yeah," Lizzie agreed.

"Okay." Yo-yo smiled at them both. "It was nice to meet you Lizzie. Maybe we can get to know each other better at Hogwarts. I would really love that." She smiled again. "Maybe we'll even all end up in the same house."

"Maybe," Alex called out as they walked away, "but only if we're all in Slytherin and I've never really thought of you as a Slytherin Yo-yo. You're much too happy."

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**Hi again! I hope you liked it! Thank you to those of you who have already reviewed, followed, or favorited! It means the world to me. Would you be willing to review again? Or for the first time if you haven't already? This is one of my favorite chapters because it introduces so many great characters (in my opinion). Let me know what characters you like so far! Or which ones you hate. Speaking of characters, I drop quite a few hints about who Amby's parents are. Did you catch them? Let me know who you think they are. Let me know what houses you think our first years will land in. I'd love to hear your theories, especially seeing as I already now the sorting of the characters I've introduced. **

**Also, if there's any type of character or a child of characters from the books that you'd like to see in here. Let me know! I can't promise it will happen, but I'll consider anything you tell me. Hogwarts has a lot of students...I'm pretty sure I could meet a few requests if there are any. **

**If there are any glaring errors please let me know so that I can fix them! I hope to have chapters 4 and 5 up soon. Thank you! -Nes**


	4. Meet and Greet

**AN: I'm so sorry this update has taken forever! Trying to make this story just right is very time consuming and I've had very little time to give this fic recently. I'm really sorry it's taken this long. Thank you to _Concolor44 _for the wonderful reviews you've given me! (and to all of you others for reviewing, following, favoriting, or simply just reading)**

**No one commented about this but just to make it clear, Amby's parents are Luna Lovegood and Lee Jordan! (which isn't conventional, but it's my fic and I'll do what I want to)  
Also, I kind of hate the first bit of this chapter, but it's rather important to the story later on. This chapter is still a lot of build-up but we are finally getting into the story a little in this chapter. (_I_ think so at least)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own the world or any of Rowling's characters. I do own: Lizzie, Alex, Yo-yo, Jilly, Andrew Andrews, Viola, and Leon Obnox. (and the plot) I apologize for any OOC Draco or Minerva. Their relationship will be further explained in later chapters which will probably make the characters seem less OOC.  
I'm also betaless so if you could point out large (or not large) errors that I've missed, that would be appreciated! Enjoy!**

* * *

The door to the train's lavatory opened and Lizzie stepped out. Alex was waiting for her, leaning against the wall. Lizzie smoothed a wrinkle in her plain grey pleated skirt. She began fidgeting with the stiff white dress shirt. It just didn't feel right.

"Okay, you need to stop." Alex said. "Seriously, you've had it on for all of ten seconds and you're already going insane over how it fits and how it looks. We're all going to look the same. We're going to have to switch uniforms once we get there anyway. They'll be more specific to our house. "

Lizzie bit her lip and heaved a sigh. "You're right, you're right. I just can't help it. It truly is rather uncomfortable."

"It'll be fine. You'll get used to it, I'm sure."

Lizzie and Alex started walking down the hall back to Amby and Romeo. They took their time with Alex peering into the other compartments to see what everyone else was up to. "Hey, that guy is a hunk," Alex muttered as they passed a compartment holding three 6th year boys. She looked over to Lizzie. "Oh, really? Again?"

Lizzie kept on fixing and re-fixing her hair. Tucking it behind her hair, then taking it out from behind her ear. Pulling it over one shoulder, then flipping it so it was behind both. She continued to do so until Alex's comment. She paused and began to twirl one strand around her finger. "I'm sorry. I just can't help it. I'm nervous." She said, then more quietly, "I'm not sure I really belong at Hogwarts. I'm more of a muggle than anything."

Alex stopped and studied the girl beside her. She was young, you could tell, but she certainly did look more mature than most 11 year old girls. Alexandria thought it was because of her eyes. They were large gorgeous brown orbs, but there was something behind them. It seemed as if they reflected hurt and pain and that they had seen far too much in their few years. Alex could relate to that and she felt like perhaps Lizzie was a kindred soul. Lizzie and Alex would never be able to pass themselves off as sisters though. Lizzie's hair fell in soft blond waves with a slight frizzy wildness to it and she had pretty bangs that kept her looking her age. Her skin was very pale. Lizzie lacked the prominent cheekbones that Alex had, but she didn't have the pudginess of Jilly or Yo-yo. She was pretty. It was obvious to Alex. She had seen how the boys had reacted to her. James Potter seemed especially captivated by her and if the way Amby and Rom's eyes shone when they met Lizzie was any sign of how their future classmates would perceive her, then Alex was sure that Lizzie was heading into a world she wasn't ready for. Looks could be deceiving, but the brunette had always found that the way you physically presented yourself not only affected how others would perceive you, but also your own opinions of yourself. Lizzie was comfortable in her muggle clothing. Just a few moments ago she had been a walking billboard for a muggle band, but on the train when she was surrounded by wizard teens she had suddenly felt inadequate. Now that she appeared to be like them she was having second thoughts about all of this. She didn't feel like herself in these clothes and it seemed to Alex that Lizzie was simply afraid that she would lose who she was now by becoming a member of wizard society. Alex knew what she was going through. She had also been there. Trying to blend into the world you haven't grown up in makes you feel like an outsider with no hope. There was no way she was going to let Lizzie go through that alone.

Alex grabbed Lizzie's soft pale hand from where it had hung by her side. She grasped it tightly and smiled reassuringly at Elizabeth. "You belong here. You belong here just the way you are and you're going to get through this just fine. And I'll be here for you. Even if we're not in the same house I'll be around to help you. This is all new to me too, but we can figure it out together." Alex smiled again. "You're strong and smart. I can tell. It doesn't matter that you didn't grow up around wizards and witches because sometimes what's really needed is someone who understands the muggle way of doing things. Not the magic way." Alexandria smiled again and gave Lizzie's hand another squeeze.

Lizzie offered back a shaky smile. "Okay."

"Let's go back to the compartment. We should make sure all our things are ready before getting to Hogwarts." Alex started walking down the train with her hand still gripping onto Lizzie's.

* * *

_Four Weeks Earlier_

"Andrew," the voice of the headmistress called. "Andrew are you here?" Her voice echoed off the stone walls of the large classroom.

"I'm here Minerva, I'm here!" came a shout from behind a sizable mahogany desk. The voice was followed by a shuffling sound and then a large bang. "Oh, ow" sounded a pained voice.

"Really," headmistress McGonagall muttered under her breath, "I don't know why I keep them on as teachers here."

A small smile played on the lips of the pale young man standing beside her. "Perhaps it's for the same reason you decided to hire me,"

She turned to him. "Draco, I surely hope you do not plan on rummaging through papers _underneath_ your desk and then receiving a concussion when you have such a lack of observance that you manage to knock your head against the blinking desk."

He raised one thin pale eyebrow at her. Over the past few years he had remained in touch with the Hogwarts headmistress and they were friends of sorts. He had learned that she could be an irritable perfectionist, but also quite patient and understanding if she chose to be. The McGonagall before him now was of the irritated sort. She had seemed a bit frustrated all day and in place of her usually calm and collected seriousness was a hurried demeanor with mild curse words corrupting her speech.

"Oh, calm yourself down Minerva," a young man said as he stood up slowly from behind the escritoire. He was rubbing the side of his head and in the process his light brown hair had been ruffled around resulting in it landing in complete disarray. He shook his head slightly to whip the long strands out of his hazel eyes. "I dropped some important papers and had to pick them up. I'm not about to use my magic for that kind of small task and let all that muscle I got from years of quidditch classes at ABF atrophy. Surely you feel the same Minerva. It would be such a tremendous pity, would it not?" he joked.

"All I can say is that it is a good thing Viola is still teaching or else all the heads of the houses would be as young and foolish as you."

"Fine," he sighed. He placed a stack of disorganized pages on his desk. "What is it that you needed?"

"Andrew, this is our new head of Slytherin and Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Draco Malfoy. Draco, this is Professor Andrew Andrews. He teaches Arithmancy. He's also the head of Ravenclaw."

Draco stuck his hand out to shake the other professor's and Andrew mirrored the gesture.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Minerva's been telling us she was getting a teacher to replace Drawling, but refused to share anything else. I better warn you Malfoy, I may not have come to Hogwarts as a kid, but I sure as hell root for my house. For Ravenclaw. There's no way I'm letting Slytherin beat Ravenclaw without a fight."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Draco replied with a smirk, "but I'd hate for you to do all that fighting for nothing."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Cocky are we?" he let out a small laugh and smiled at the new professor. "You ever need anything, I'll be here."

"Thanks," he said with a nod of his head. "So you went to the Academy of Broom Flying? I always wanted to take courses there, but my father would never allow it. He always thought I spent too much time in the air and not enough focusing on the skills that would be valued during the war."

"Yeah, I went there. Not as my primary school though. If you go solely to ABF you better be damn good at quidditch because you're not going to learn anything else that will get you a job. My sister and I both attended the Salem Witches' Institute and then I took classes at the Academy during the summer."

"You're from America then?"

"Well, um, not exactly, but I spent most of my childhood there." Andrew forced a smile as he spoke his answer and his eyes grew out of focus as he avoided direct eye contact with Draco.

Malfoy decided not to push the question and decided to continue with the subject of schooling instead. "I went to Hogwarts myself and was as Slytherin as you could get." He chuckled a small bit at the memories that statement brought to the surface. Those first few years at Hogwarts he had loved being in Slytherin and had been a complete git if you came right down to it.

"Adelpha, she's my younger sister, was always making theories about what houses we would have been in had we gone here as kids. My grandfather went here and used to tell us stories. Adelpha was always a little bitter about going to Salem instead."

McGonagall cleared her throat. "I hate to break up this pleasant conversation, but Draco and I really must be going." She turned to the blonde, "You have many more staff member to meet and a lot has changed here at Hogwarts since you left. You'll need to catch up with the new school standards. The two of you can talk later on. There'll be plenty of time I assure you."

The two men exchanged a look. They both knew how bossy Minerva could be. "I'll catch you later Malfoy. Maybe we can talk about quidditch or just commiserate over how similarly horrible I'm sure both of our school experiences were. You know, compare the weirdos and such," Andrew said.

"Professor Andrews," Minerva said sharply at his comment.

Draco laughed and nodded his head at the Arithmancy teacher. "Yeah, I'd like that. As soon as I get through all these bloody introductions we can spend some real time getting to know each other. Figure out our competition for the house cup,"

Andrew laughed as the headmistress and his new coworker left his classroom.

"So you like Andrew?" Minerva commented. "I thought you would. The two of you will get along quite nicely I think."

"I do as well," Draco said softly. "It's been some time since I had any real friends. I'm assuming that's why you're doing all of this?"

"You've always been too perceptive for your own good, Draco. Except when it came to yourself," She looked to him from the corner of her eye as they walked side by side. "I'm going to introduce you to our head of Gryffindor next. And you are going to make every effort to get along with him. Do you understand?"

Draco let out a small groan in frustration. "I'm not a child, Minerva. I'll try my best to tolerate him, but I make no promises that we'll get along. It is partially up to him you know."

"He went to Hogwarts like you did. He was a Gryffindor a couple years younger than you. I don't believe the two of you ever formally met." The older woman stopped in front of a closed classroom door. The two entered and she strode with purpose to the desk at the back of the room. Draco trailed a few steps behind her as he looked warily at the man sitting at the desk.

He had dark brown hair that had been carefully groomed with the use of magic and probably a lot of hair gel. It had been slicked back away from his forehead and it was almost impossible to determine where the part of his hair was because it was so far on the left side of his head. The style reminded Draco of his own in second year. He was pretty certain that was the age at which he'd been the largest jackass. The Gryffindor head also had thick framed glasses precariously perched upon his sharp nose. He wore black wizarding robes that had obviously been pressed so often that it was impossible for them to even become wrinkled anymore. 'Oh yes,' Draco thought to himself, 'Minerva had more reasons than him being a Gryffindor for asking me to be civilized around him.'

The man finally looked up from a paper he was staring at when the headmistress was a mere four feet from his desk. A blatantly forced grin spread across his face. "Is there something I can help you with Minerva?" His voice was grating with a false trace of willing helpfulness.

"Leon, this is our new professor, Draco Malfoy. " She turned back to Draco, "This is Professor Leon Obnox. He's the History of Magic teacher in addition to his duties to Gryffindor House."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leon, I'm sure," Draco said pleasantly despite his inner unease.

Leon slowly stood from his seat and removed his reading glasses. "Draco. Malfoy." He murmured. "So you're the one McGonagall scraped up for the open position." A menacing smile took over his face. "I suppose you don't' remember me?"

Malfoy frowned. "I'm sorry, but I don't. Minerva did mention that you were only a couple years younger than me, but I don't recall ever running into you during our years here."

"Of course you wouldn't, but what does it matter now? We're adults. Let bygones be bygones and such, yes?"

Draco was even more distrustful of the stiff professor now and watched him, his grey eyes narrowed slightly. "Exactly. The past's in the past. I'm sure we've both matured a great deal since our initial Hogwarts days." He pasted a polite smile on a lips. "I suppose we'll be seeing each other quite often knowing how disruptive Gryffindor and Slytherin students can be, but right now Minerva and I really must be going. She's still got most of the staff left to introduce me to."

"Of course. We'll be seeing each other again soon, Malfoy. I'm sure of that." His words sounded especially menacing to Draco's ears.

Minerva had been carefully observing the two heads and only said her goodbye to Leon and started following Draco out after he had walked more than halfway through the classroom without her. She found him waiting in the hall for her. It was easy to tell he was nervous for some reason. "What is it Draco?" she questioned.

He looked to her, his eyes boring into hers. "Honestly? I don't know." He shook head and short humorless laugh escaped his mouth. "He just, there's something about him. It worries me." He was quiet for a moment. "Minerva, I appreciate everything you've done to try to help me, but I'm not sure I'm right for this job. I don't know the first thing about teaching and I was never all that great a student. I'm not sure Hogwarts is really where I belong anymore. In fact, I do not believe Hogwarts was ever where I was meant to be. "

McGonagall looked sadly upon the pureblood man standing before her. He had been through so much and at such an early age. He had made so many mistakes over the years and those mistakes along with the ones made by his ancestors was what led so many people to ostracize him from society. They were right, choices Draco had made had led to people getting hurt, but Minerva trusted him with her life. "Draco, with my influence I could have easily gotten you a job at some obscure business where you would never have contact with anyone knowledgeable about your past. I did not though. I chose you as the Slytherin head. I chose you for a reason. I want you as a professor here and I you choose not to accept the position then that is up to you, but I wouldn't have offered it if I believed you couldn't handle it. "He didn't respond, so she continued. "Leon's a muggleborn. You probably made him think of days at Hogwarts where Slytherins would bully him because of his blood status. I merely said that you had to try to get along, not that either of you have to like the other."

Draco stood silently for a moment, absorbing the woman's words. She had meant all of it and he wasn't sure how that made him feel. There had been very few people in his life that thought he was capable of doing anything right. He would probably let her down, but he had to try didn't he? He looked up at the headmistress and smirked. "So? Who's next on the meet and greet list?"

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**I really hoped you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think! My AN from last chapter still stands. Any theories or requests are awesome! I'm hoping to have chapter 5 up soon, but no promises. I should also have a one-shot or two up soon hopefully, if you'd like to check that out! I can't possibly express how wonderful and important you guys are to me and to this fic! Thank you so much for the support. {Review? Follow? Favorite?}**


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